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**safa**

Sachin's Sunday symphony

March 8: When Sachin Tendulkar strikes the ball, it’s music to the ears. During the third game, 14,000 spectators at the AMI Stadium here and millions over television worldwide got a chance to watch the Maestro at work as he orchestrated a performance that will go down as an epic. The Sachin Symphony propelled India to hit a high note and put the New Zealanders out of rhythm.
Having bowled out the home side for 334 after making 392/4 in Sunday’s slugfest, India now have an unassailable 2-0 lead in the five-match series with one game rained out. For the first time, they will not be beaten in New Zealand, and have a very good chance of winning the series and enhancing their reputation as a side that is evolving as the most destructive in world cricket.
The hosts were in the hunt, briefly, with openers Jesse Ryder (105, 80b, 12x4, 4x6) and Brendon McCullum (71, 68b, 6x4, 3x6) rattling off 166 in just 21.6 overs. They were aided by the overconfident Indian fielders who floored too many catches and let a bucketful of runs slip through their butter fingers. However, once the pair was separated via a run out affected on the latter by the Raina-Dhoni combination, the Black Caps fell apart. Tailenders Kyle Mills (54) and Tim Southee (32) put up a spirited 83-run stand for the ninth wicket but the Kiwis were soon crucified.
India were impeccable, thanks to Tendulkar, who was in terrific form. He controlled the innings brilliantly as he got the fans dancing in the aisles throughout the first half of play with his unbeaten 163, the 43rd century of his one-day international career.
While most of the 16 boundaries that flowed off his blade gently caressed the boundary ropes, the five sixes gave ample proof of why the 35-year-old is still India’s biggest hit.
Sachin was immaculate in his approach. First he got his eye in as he relied on deft touches and crafty strokes that earned him boundaries with minimum ease. He glanced Butlter down to the fine leg fence for his seventh four that brought up his half-century.
The tempo began to rise gradually as the legend shifted gear. A scooped six over the square leg off seam bowler Tim Southee and another one lobbed over long-off carried him into the 90s. Sachin caught his breath during this period to slow down a bit before he turned Elliott to the square leg for a single to heave a sigh of relief as he thrust his arms into the air in triumph to celebrate his 43rd ODI century. The mammoth milestone achieved, the Master Blaster wreaked havoc, hammering two more sixes and five boundaries around before his battered body screamed ‘stop.’
A mild abdominal muscle sore sustained when he was hit by an Iain O’Brien delivery in the previous match, began to complain in pain. Sachin retired hurt after 45 overs, being deprived a chance to have a crack at the world’s highest individual score in ODIs, that of 194 made by Pakistan’s Saeed Anwar.
However, lusty hitting from Yuvraj Singh (87, 10x4, 6x6), Mahendra Singh Dhoni (68, 5x4, 2x6) and the five sixes contributed by in-form Suresh Raina (38) ensured the Indian innings tied the world record for the most number of sixes in an innings — 18. South Africa had done it against Holland, India had thrashed Bermuda and New Zealand had hit Ireland for a similar amount of sixes before the big bash on Sunday. The carnage at Christchurch can clearly be rated as the best effort as it came against quality opposition.
Yuvraj used brute force to whack the ball out of sight. His short-arm jabs also landed in the stands with a thud. Once, it got lost in the part of the ground where new stands are being set up. The next one, which sailed into the stands brought up his 50 as India gallopped in the third, batting, powerplay between 23 and 27 overs during which the Blues accumulated 69 runs without losing a wicket.

SCOREBOARD
India
Batsman how out runs balls 4s 6s
V Sehwag b Mills 3 6 0 0
S Tendulkar retired hurt 163 133 16 5
G Gambhir c McGlashan b Butler 15 27 1 0
Yuvraj c McGlashan b Elliot 87 60 10 6
M.S. Dhoni C McGlashan b Mills 68 58 5 2
S Raina not out 38 18 0 5
Y Pathan not out 1 2 0 0
Extras (lb 5, w 8, nb 4) 17
Total (in 50 overs) 392/4
FOW: 1-15 (Sehwag, 2.4 ov), 2-65 (Gambhir, 12.4 ov), 3-203 (Yuvraj, 29.2 ov), 3-338* (Tendulkar, retired not out), 4-382 (Dhoni, 48.2 ov)

Bowling O M R W (E)
K Mills 10 0 58 2 (3nb)
T Southee 10 0 105 0 (2w)
I Butler 5 0 37 1 (2w)
J Oram 8 1 34 0 (1w)
J Patel 5 0 37 0
J Ryder 5 0 56 0 (1nb)
G Elliot 7 0 60 1 (1w)

New Zealand
Batsman how out runs balls 4s 6s
J Ryder c Khan b Harbhajan 105 80 12 4
B McCullum run out 71 66 6 3
R Taylor run out 7 6 1 0
M Guptill lbw Yuvraj 1 4 0 0
G Elliot b Khan 18 24 1 0
J Oram b Harbhajan 7 11 0 0
P McGlashan b Khan 7 9 0 0
I Butler b Yuvraj 24 19 1 1
K Mills c Khan b Pathan 54 32 6 3
T Southee c & b Kumar 32 20 3 2
J Patel not out 0 2 0 0
Extras (lb 2, w 4, nb 2) 8
Total (in 45.1 overs) 334 all out
FOW: 1-166 (McCullum, 21.6 ov), 2-179 (Taylor, 24.2 ov), 3-182 (Guptill, 25.3 ov), 4-188 (Ryder, 26.6 ov), 5-203 (Oram, 30.3 ov), 6-217 (Elliot, 33.3 overs), 7-218 (McGlashan, 33.5 overs), 8-251 (Butler, 37.6 overs), 9-334 (Mills, 44.6 overs), 10-334 (Southee, 45.1 overs)

Bowling O M R W (E)
Zaheer Khan 9 0 65 2 (1w)
Praveen Kumar 8.1 0 60 1 (1w)
Munaf Patel 7.2 0 79 0 (2nb, 1w)
Yuvraj 10 0 71 2 (1w)
Harbhajan Singh 10 0 56 2
Yusuf Pathan 0.4 0 1 1

Last edited by safa; 03-09-2009 at 10:17 AM..